1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of tissue engineering and, more particularly, to a method and an apparatus for use in the production of tissue equivalents from sheets of biomaterial containing live cells.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known by those skilled in the art that mesenchymal cells can be incorporated into reconstructed sheets of tissue. The matrix surrounding the cells in the sheet can be formed either from cell-synthesized extracellular matrix molecules, exogenously added molecules or a mixture of both. These living tissue sheets can be used as the building material to assemble complex tissue equivalents.
The physical properties of such sheets are greatly influenced by the distribution of the fibers composing the matrix surrounding the cells. There is thus a need to find a way of controlling the orientation of the matrix fibers in order to obtain living tissue sheets with improved mechanical and biochemical properties.